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2 Sheets-Sheet l 7/ni0f: dzezz yam Jase J. A. CELLINI Jan. 24, 1956FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCK THEREFOR Filed Feb. 28, 1952 J.A. CELLlNl Jan. 24, 1956 FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCKTHEREFOR Filed Feb. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 d, UeZZz'ni s ymw d gyat'United States Patent ice FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCKTHEREFOR Joseph A. Cellini, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 28, 1952, Serial No. 27 4,009

1 Claim. (Cl. 129-30) This invention relates to filing cabinet drawersand is more particularly concerned with the provision of drawersembodying compressors or follower members adapted to engage and maintainthe contents of a drawer, such as files, cards, papers, etc., in acompact, upright condition.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a drawer having acompressor or follower member adapted to be manually moved to adjustedposition within the drawer to facilitate the examination, insertion, orremoval ofthe files.

' This invention further contemplates the provision of a drawer andfollower construction embodying means to maintain the follower in anupright condition and in a plane normal to the sides of the drawerduring adjustment of the follower longitudinally of the drawer.v

T This invention further contemplates the provision of ariimproved latchmeans operable to normally secure the follower in fixed position withina drawer and manually operable to permit movement of the followerlongitudinally of the drawer.

This invention embodies other novel features, details of construction,and arrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in thespecification and claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line1-1 of Fig. 2 illustrating a filing cabinet drawer embodying features ofthe present invention, only one side of the drawer being shown as theopposite side is identical in construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line3-3 of Fig. 4, showing a modified form of the invention, only one sideof the drawer being shown as the opposite side is identical inconstruction.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of theinvention, the filing cabinet drawer is shown as formed from sheet metaland comprising a bottom 2, side walls 4-4 and end walls 6-6. Each sidewall is formed with vertically spaced webs 8 and 10 and a connecting web12 which define a channel 14 adapted to receive a rack member 16 ofchannel-shaped cross section.

Each rack member 16 comprises a base 17 and vertically spaced upper andlower flanges 18 and 20, the flange 20 being perforated at spacedintervals to serve as a rack for meshing engagement with a gear 22secured to the adjacent end of a shaft 24. Each rack member 16 issecured in fixed position within the upper end of its respective channel14 by means of rivets, spot welding, or other fastening means.

A compressor or follower member 26 is disposed within the drawer betweenthe side walls thereof and is shown as blanked and formed from sheetmetal to provide a front wall 28, a top wall 30 and side walls 32-32,the side walls being formed with apertures 34 to receive the ends of theshaft 24. A guide member 36 is spot welded 2,731,968 Patented Jan. 24,1956 orotherwise secured to the outer side of each side wall 32 and isformed with vertically spaced, horizontally disposed flanges 38 and 40for engagement with the inner opposing surfaces of the flanges 18 and20, respectively, of the rack member 16. Each guide member 36 is alsoformed with an aperture in registry with the apertures 34 formed in theside walls 32-32 to receive the shaft 24.

A latch housing 42 is blanked and formed from sheet metal and is shownas comprising a bottom 44, side walls 46-46 and end walls 48-48, theside walls being provided with flanges 50-50 adapted to be spot welded,riveted, or otherwise secured to the front wall 28 of the compressor orfollower 26.

A latch 52 is enclosed within the housing 42 and is shown as comprisinga base 54 having a pair of spaced, vertically projecting arms 56-56. Theupper end of each arm is bifurcated toprovide a slot 58 to receive theadjacent flattened portion 60 of the shaft 24. Each slot 58 is definedfor a portion of its length by parallel walls 62-62 which merge at theirupper ends with upwardly diverging walls 64-64.

i A helical compression spring 66 is interposed between the base 54 ofthe latch 52 and the adjacent end wall 48 of the housing 42 to yieldablyresist downward movement of the latch. A latch release member 68 isprovided on the compressor or follower26 to engage the latch 52 and ispreferably formed from a length of strip metal bent at its ends toprovide a latch engaging flange 70 and a hand engaging flange 72. Theinner portion of the member 68 is enclosed within the latch housing 42and has its upper portion projecting through elongated apertures formedin the end wall of the housing 42 and the top wall 30 of the follower26.

To manually adjust the position of the compressor or follower 26longitudinally of the drawer, the latch actuating member 68 is presseddownwardly to move the latch 52 toward the adjacent end wall 48 of thelatch housing 42 until the axis of the shaft 24 is disposed between theupwardly diverging edges 64-64 of the slots 58 formed in the arms 56-56.The latch is thus moved to its inop erative position to permit freerotational movement of the shaft 24 and manual adjustment of thecompressor or follower 26 longitudinally of the drawer. Upon release ofthe member 68, the compression spring 66 acts to move the latch 52upwardly to engage the shaft 24 against further rotational movement.When the latch 52 is in its upper position it will be noted that theflat surfaces 60-60 on the shaft 24 are snugly engaged by the paralleledges 62-62 of the slots 58 to prevent rotational movement of the shaft24 relative to the latch. It will also be noted that the guide members36-36 serve to support the compressor or follower 26 in an uprightcondition, and further that the shaft 24, gears 22-22 and rack members16-16 serve to maintain the follower 26 in a plane normal to the sidewalls dun'ng adjustment of the follower longitudinally of the drawer.

Figs. 3 and 4 in the drawings illustrate a modified form of theinvention in which the filing cabinet drawer is shown as comprising abottom 2a, side walls 4a-4a and end walls 6a6a, each side wall havingvertically spaced parallel webs 8a and 10a and a connecting web 12adefining a channel 14a to receive a rack member 16a of generallychannel-shape cross section.

Each rack 16a comprises spaced upper and lower flanges 18a and 20ajoined together by a base 17a spot welded to the inner face of itsrelated connecting web 12a, the lower flange being perforated at equallyspaced intervals to serve as a rack for meshing engagement with a gear27a keyed to a shaft 24a.

A compressor or follower member 76 is mounted within the drawer in aplane normal to the side walls 4a-4a and comprises a sheet metal blankformed to provide a ing a dependingflange 80,- the side Walls havingaper tures 81-81 to rotatably receive the shaft 24a. The upper flange18a of each rack member 16a is spaced from its related top web'fliztodefine a recesstoslida'blywa ceive= a tongue 82' on a guide member" 83spot welded to-its relatedside wa11 7S; It'willbe' noted that the guidemembers 83-8-3 serve to support the compressor 76' in an uprightposition within thedrawer, and that-the racks 16'a-16a; gears 22a-22aand shaft- 24a" act' to maintain the compressor 76in aplane normal tothe side Walls 411-411" during and after movement of thecompressor'longitudinally of'the drawer.

Means for locking the compressor 76 in fixedposition within the draweris'shown' as comprisingian elongated latch 84'preferably blankedfromsheet' metal to provide a pair of depending tongues85'S5formedanddisposed for vertical movement'into and out of theperforations of their" respective rack members 16z'116a; The latch 84hasits end portions disposedforvertical' movement within' sl'ots 86-86formed in the side walls78-78 of the compressor, the medial portion ofthe latch being spot welded at 87 tothe-lower end'of a latch actuatingarm 88 disposed in flush engagement against the back surface of thefront wall 77.

The upper end of the arnr 88 is bent to provide a horizontal web-89- anda vertical fiange' 90" slidably'engaging the inner surface of thedepending fiange80, and a compression spring 91 is interposed betweenthe web 89 and the top wall 79 0f the'compressor to yieldably resist up=ward movement of the-latch 84 and its actuating arm 88'.

To adjust the position of the compressor 76 longitudinally of thedrawer, the latch actuating arm 88isfirst manually engaged bythe'fingersof the operator under the horizontal web 89' to' raisethe" latch 84' andmove its tongues 35--85- out of the apertures inthe" rack flanges20a20a. The compressor 76 is then manually moved to adjusted positionlongitudinally of the drawer and secured in position by the latch 84.The compression spring 91' normally holds the latch in engagement withtherack members 16a16a;

While this invention has been shown in but two forms, itis-obvious-to-those skilled in-the art that it-is-notso limited but issusceptible of various changes and modifications Without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the claimed invention.

I claim as my invention:

In a file drawer having spaced side walls and a bottom, a followerdisposed within the drawer, a rack provided on each side wall, a shaftjournaled on the follower and extending between the side walls, gearsfixed on the ends of the shaft in meshing engagement with theirrespective racks, a latch supported on the follower for reciprocativemovement transversely of said shaft-betweena shaft-locking position anda shaft release position and having two spaced upwardlyprojectingbifurcated' arms providing U- shaped recesses to receive saidshaft, the upper ends of said recesses being enlarged to rotatablyreceive said shaft when the latch is in its shaft release position,portions of said shaft adjacent each arm' having diametrically opposedflat surfaces to be'slidably and non-rotatively'engaged within thelowerends of said recesses when the latch is disposed in its normalshaft locking position; a latch actuating member 'on thefollower-operable to move the latch downwardly from its' shaft lockingpositionto its shaft release-position; said member having a'portionengaged against the upper' endsof said arms to close the recessestherein; and resilient means to yieldably resist movement of said latchfrom its shaft locking position to its shaftrel'ease position;

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,064,382 Sampson June 10,1913 l,l11,4,081- Weiss' -t Oct; 2.0, 191.4l-,787,4l0 Smiley Dec. 30,1930 1-,874,367 Seyl Aug. 30,. 1932. 2,013,153Hunter Sept. 3,} 1935 2,187,118; Ficklin Jan. 16; 1940 2,585,612Abrahamson Feb. 12,v 1952,

